The University of North Dakota (UND/University) acknowledges the rights of students and others to assemble in groups on University property for peaceful rallies, demonstrations, and gatherings.
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To further the effectiveness of their event, protest, or demonstration the responsible party is encouraged... Read More

Sexual harassment is a violation of University policy when it is objectively offensive and sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive so as to interfere with or limit the ability of an individual or group to participate in or benefit from university-sponsored programs or activities, including employment and ac... Read More

Harassment is a violation of the Code when it is objectively offensive and sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive so as to interfere with or limit the ability of an individual or group to participate in or benefit from university-sponsored programs or activities, including employment and academic pursuits... Read More

Campus leaders have recently been taking advantage of opportunities—sometimes under pressure—to explain their approach to freedom of speech and other principles enshrined in the First Amendment. How did they fare with such tests this week? The Good Washington State University (WSU) Members of WSU’s administration—President Kirk Schulz, Provost and Executive Vice President Dan Bernardo, and… Read more

Last month, The Torch was pleased to report that a bipartisan bill was introduced in the North Dakota Legislative Assembly to provide students and student organizations at public universities the right to hire lawyers for representation in certain campus disciplinary hearings. More good news: Earlier this week, an amended version of the bill was passed… Read more

Colleges and universities aren’t always known for providing meaningful due process to students in hearings where suspension or expulsion is at stake, but that may soon change in North Dakota. Yesterday, state legislators introduced SB 2150, a bill that, if passed, would make North Dakota the second state to grant students enrolled in its public… Read more

Emily Yoffe has thoroughly examined and thoughtfully considered the complex issue of how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault, and the result is a must-read article published yesterday in Slate. Yoffe starts by detailing the case of Drew Sterrett, a former University of Michigan student who is claiming in a lawsuit (PDF) against… Read more

On Monday, Vox co-founder Ezra Klein penned an op-ed about how he firmly supported the affirmative consent bill recently passed in California despite his candid acknowledgment that the bill was in fact “terrible.” The general tenor of his column, which I discussed in The Daily Caller yesterday, was that you can’t make an omelet without… Read more

National Public Radio’s (NPR’s) Tovia Smith spoke with both due process advocates and victims’ rights advocates on “Morning Edition” today, illuminating the serious problem of college students who are accused of sexual assault being denied a fair hearing. The report included comments from FIRE’s Robert Shibley, claimants’ attorney Colby Bruno, an unnamed former student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who was expelled for an alleged sexual assault, and several others.

FIRE is pleased to announce the launch of a new organization, Families Advocating for Campus Equality (FACE), dedicated to defending due process on campus. FACE president and co-founder Sherry Warner Seefeld is the mother of Caleb Warner, who was falsely found responsible for sexual assault by the University of North Dakota in one of FIRE’s best-known due process cases. Co-founders Judith Grossman and Allison Strange are mothers with similar experiences. FIRE looks forward to working with FACE on due process issues in the years to come.

Last week, the New York Times Editorial Board addressed the issue of campus sexual assault. Unfortunately, the Board missed an opportunity to address many serious concerns held by FIRE and others about university policies and practices that threaten the due process rights of students accused of sexual misconduct.

Earlier this month, a group of University of North Dakota (UND) students attending the off-campus event “Springfest” drew criticism for wearing shirts that read “Siouxper Drunk” and depicted a Native American drinking from a beer bong. While the First Amendment prohibits a public university like UND from imposing discipline on the students for the content of the T-shirts, some students and local Native American tribe members are calling for UND to punish students who wore the shirt. Meanwhile, news outlets are creating an air of suspense where none should exist, as UND is legally limited in how it can respond to the shirts.

In an email to FIRE supporters today, Sherry Warner-Seefeld, mother of Caleb Warner, writes about her son’s experience when he was wrongfully accused and found guilty of sexual assault by administrators at the University of North Dakota. We wanted to share Sherry’s words with Torch readers as a reminder of how important—and under attack—due process rights on campus are.

Last week, the flagship news magazine program on Al Jazeera America, America Tonight, broadcast a series of reports about the issue of sexual assault on college campuses, ending with a town hall discussion on this critically important subject. In a fair, thorough portrayal of the issues involved, America Tonight put together in-depth segments on the experiences of sexual assault victims, the fraternity culture… Read more

On Sunday, the Grand Forks Herald published an editorial calling on the University of North Dakota to revise its speech-restrictive “harassment” policy, which earned the “honor” of being named our Speech Code of the Month for December 2012. The policy’s overbreadth is striking, defining “harassment” (PDF) to include speech that causes a group or individual… Read more

FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for December 2012: the University of North Dakota (UND). UND defines “harassment” (PDF) as: [U]nacceptable behavior, which can range from violence and bullying to more subtle behavior such as ignoring an individual at work or study. It subjects an individual or a group to unwelcome attention, intimidation,… Read more

This weekend, Justin Pope of the Associated Press came out with a pair of thorough and insightful articles about the “legal minefield” in which universities currently find themselves when it comes to addressing claims of sexual assault on campus. As Pope explains, Typically, colleges enjoy wide leeway in responding to student misconduct, whether that means… Read more

Writing for RealClearPolitics, columnist Cathy Young details the threats to due process rights for students accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault presented by recent guidance from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and a new draft of a bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Young uses FIRE’s recent… Read more

The Grand Forks Herald published an article yesterday by reporter Tu-Uyen Tran about former University of North Dakota (UND) student Caleb Warner’s due process nightmare. Warner’s ordeal, which finally ended last month, began when a female UND student accused him of sexual assault following a sexual encounter that Warner believed to be consensual. Following a… Read more

WDAY Channel 6 News out of Fargo, N.D., is reporting that student Caleb Warner will not be returning to school at the University of North Dakota (UND). For those who are new to The Torch, Warner was found guilty of sexual assault by a UND campus court in February 2010, despite the fact that the… Read more

As FIRE reports in today’s press release, a student convicted of sexual assault and banned from campus by a University of North Dakota (UND) tribunal is free to return to school this week. After a year and a half, UND officials have determined that the university’s finding of guilt against student Caleb Warner was "not… Read more

GRAND FORKS, N.D., October 18, 2011—A student convicted of sexual assault and banned from campus by a University of North Dakota (UND) tribunal is free to return to school this week. After a year and a half, UND officials have determined that the university’s finding of guilt against student Caleb Warner was “not substantiated” in… Read more

Nico Perrino, a 2010 FIRE summer intern and current undergraduate at Indiana University – Bloomington (IUB), has been working to reform IUB’s speech codes since returning to campus from his internship. Today, Nico has a column in the Indiana Daily Student calling attention to the inroads against student due process rights on campus made by the… Read more

FIRE Co-founder and Chairman Harvey Silverglate’s Friday op-ed in The Wall Street Journal continues to draw attention to the absurd rulings of some campus courts, and underscores the due process concerns raised by schools’ harried attempts to comply with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR’s) mandate to use the "preponderance of the… Read more

GRAND FORKS, N.D., July 15, 2011—In a stark demonstration of the failure of campus judicial procedures, the University of North Dakota (UND) has found a student guilty of sexual assault despite the fact that local police refused to charge him with a crime and instead charged his accuser for lying about the incident. Former student… Read more

The Grand Forks (ND) Herald ran an editorial last week discussing the case of former student Caleb Warner, who was expelled from the University of North Dakota (UND) after a college tribunal found him guilty of charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault. Notice the word "alleged." The twist in this case is that his accuser… Read more